(CNN) – Human Rights Watch has people on the ground in Iraq, and they are seeing "all kinds of atrocities" being carried out by ISIS, says the group's executive director Ken Roth.

"We saw a mass execution of Shia men in Tikrit a short time ago. Currently there's been clearly a roundup of the Yazidi minority. The execution of men, the capturing of women to create brides for fighters, there's absolute terror among the Yazidi," said Roth.
The Yazidis are descendants of Kurds who follow an ancient pre-Islamic religion. The militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – ISIS – have threatened Yazidis, telling them to convert to Islam, or die. Thousands from the minority group have fled to the mountains in northwest Iraq, suffering scorching temperatures with little shade, food, or water.

"You've got to be awfully desperate to seek escape in an environment like that, but they feel that that's better than leaving their fates to ISIS," said Roth.

For more of our interview with Human Rights Watch's Ken Roth, check out the video above.

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